On the economic front, weekly
initial jobless claims came in at 371k, up from last week's
reading of 367k. Economists were looking for the number
to fall to 365k. So, the number was a tad disappointing.

However, investors and economists weren't too worried about
the report. "More generally, the claims data can be
volatile this time of year because of the difficulty of seasonal
adjustment around the holidays," noted UBS economist Kevin Cummins. "It will be
several more weeks before the claims data are free of influence
from the holiday seasonal factors. Thus, we attach little weight
to possible swings for the next couple of weeks."

If there were a reason to be bullish today, then it was last
night
Chinese trade report. Exports surged 14.1 percent
year-over-year in December, which was well ahead of the 5
percent gain forecasted by economists. Considering China
is the world's second largest economy, this is good news for
everyone.

The drama surrounding Herbalife continues to heat up.
Last month, hedge fund hot shot Bill Ackman announced that he was shorting the
stock, accusing the company of being a pyramid scheme.
Shares plummeted back then. Yesterday, Dan Loeb, another
high-profile hedge funder, announced that he disagreed with
Ackman's thesis. Loeb is now long the stock. This
morning, activist investor
Carl Icahn reportedly jumped into the fray, taking a long
position like Loeb. Meanwhile, Herbalife
fired back today with their defense, effectively explaining
why Ackman's trade will blow up on him.